Research Question: What is the Wiccan Religion? What holidays do Wiccans celebrate? How do they celebrate, what are their rituals like? What is the difference between paganism and being wiccan?

I chose the topic of the Wiccan Religion because it is something that has greatly interested me since I was a small child. Also I have a friend who is Wiccan. It is not exactly witch craft and neither is it good or bad. There is no such thing as white or black magic. That is something used by people who have no real idea of what "magic" truly is. It is not the magic itself that is bad it is the wielder of the magic and the choices they make.

I know that the wiccan religion is centered around the number three. What you do unto others, you get back times three. The cycle goes the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. They have different holidays than is custom for people in the United States. They celebrate Samhain, the spring and fall equinox, and the summer and winter solstice.

I wish to learn some of the rituals and about why people feared them so much. Wiccans were among the many innocent to burn during the Salem Witch Trials and other famous "Witch Hunts". I'd like to know why some people chose this religion over others. Were they simply drawn by the idea of a natural magic? Were they raised by parents who practiced it?

I've done research on the topic in the past because it interested me so much. I also met Natasha Sherlock who tried to get a pagan group started on campus. The group leaned more towards wiccanism and not just paganism which is a broad category that wiccanism just happens to fall under.

I haven't had any trouble locating sources. There are a few books on the Wiccan religion in the library as well as an encyclopedia on everything Wiccan. I also have a book on the Wiccan religion. I think this assignment will be awesome because it's something I actually want to write about. My writing is usually much better when it's over a topic of interest.

Working Bibliography

Ballard, Byron. "Dianic Wicca Interview with Byron Ballard." 3 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~religion/newifo/religions/paganism/index/dwicca/interviews.shtml>

Conway, D.J. Wicca The Complete Craft. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press Freedom, 2001

Frost, Gavin and Yvonne. Church and School of Wicca. 13 Sept. 2006. Web. 22 Feb. 2010 <http://www.wicca.org/>.

Lewis, James R. Witchcraft today : an encyclopedia of Wiccan and neopagan traditions. Santa Barbra, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.n

Sherlock, Natasha. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2010

Author vs. Author

Blogs about figures in History require some research. I have researched two blogs that can tie into my blog and also provides some interesting information. The first blog is #32 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945 by: Brave Astronaut. The second blog is FDR, Eleanor and Lucy Mercer by: Ruby Hawk. Brave Astronaut writes because he is an archivist that writes about presidents. He writes a few times a week. His last post was February tenth. He provides "About Me" information such as his age, gender, astrological and Chinese sign, occupation, and where he's from. Ruby Hawk writes about what she enjoys. She is retired and greatly enjoys writing her blogs about anything that strikes her fancy. Ruby posts everyday sometimes more than once a day. Ruby's "About Me" information lists her hobbies and things she enjoys doing with her "extended time" including spending time with her husband (Hawk).

Neither of the two bloggers adorns their blogs with widgets or podcasts. They both have labels which make them much easier to find. Both had some of the same information. Despite being universally loved and revered by the American public and the world, Roosevelt was not the most faithful of husbands (Astronaut). FDR and Lucy were in love (Meacham). Both blogs have pictures although the second has more. Both blogs are associated with an organization. The first one is associated with the National Archives in the Presidential Library System while the second one is associated with the website Socyberty. Neither blog has a link to a social networking website such as Twitter, Myspace, or Facebook.

The first has no ads where the second blog has a Shutterfly ad and a Zwinky ad. The second blog has a black square background with an inner white background and has black and orange lettering which I feel doesn't fit the topic, whereas the white background with black lettering makes the first blog seem more professional. There is a video in the second but not in the first. The video does support the blog. It is a short clip, about five minutes, about FDR. Ruby Hawk really likes to put pictures and videos in her blogs because as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and they make the blog that much more interesting whereas Brave Astronaut uses one picture at the beginning to emphasize his main topic. There are word links in the second blog that simply go to other pages about those words whether it has anything to do with the blog or not. Brave Astronaut posts on Blogger while Ruby Hawk posts on Triond. Ruby doesn't give out her specific location, but Brave Astronaut says he lives in Chevelry, MD. Although they both talk about Lucy Mercer and her affair with the longest in office president, the second blog is only about the affair, while the first blog has only one paragraph in it about Lucy and FDR. Doris Goodwin notes, "I have often thought, 'Thank God for Lucy Mercer because it freed Eleanor and allowed her to find who she was'"(Hawk).

I feel that these blogs relate to my topic because they're basically about my topic. It further shows that FDR did indeed have an affair. It also shows that Eleanor and FDR were distant relatives. Both blogs are strictly informative. The information is supported by having several other documents that have the same basic information. It confirms my research and gives me some other things to think about as well. The information is quite accurate. I plan to incorporate the information that I found in these two blogs into the final paper.

Links

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/weekinreview/20mcgrath.html

http://merritt1213sp10.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-this-post-i-will-be-looking-at-two.html

Works Cited

Astronaut, Brave. #32-Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945. National Archives in the Presidential Library System, 12 Aug. 2008. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.

Hawk, Ruby. FDR, Eleanor and Lucy Mercer. Socyberty, 13 Apr. 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.

Meacham, Jon. "The Lost Lucy Letter." Newsweek 142.16 (2003): 63. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.